Insomnia
2002
***½
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Maura Tierney, Martin Donovan, Nicky Katt, Paul Dooley, Jonathan Jackson, Katherine Isabelle, Larry Holden
In the midst of an investigation by Internal Affairs, veteran LAPD detective Will Dormer and his partner travel to Alaska to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. While Dormer struggles with insomnia brought on by guilt and the midnight sun, the killer draws him into a psychological mind game. Christopher Nolan made his breakthrough with the highly original Memento. His follow-up is its polar opposite, a remake of the 1997 Norwegian film by Erik Skjoldbjærg. This is a solid and entertaining crime procedural with a twist, though it features very few of the elements that Nolan would later become famous for. Al Pacino gives a terrific performance, genuinely looking as if he hasn't slept for days.
